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Earl's lawyer slams the NRL

Ian McCullough

Sandor Earl's lawyer has accused the NRL of reacting to publicity and breaching ASADA's national anti-doping policies by announcing that the former Penrith and Canberra winger faces multiple drug trafficking charges.

Chief operating officer Jim Doyle said on Tuesday he was hopeful the NRL's anti-doping tribunal would convene to hear Earl's case "as soon as possible" and revealed he's facing charges of trafficking a number of prohibited substances of varying quantities.

These substances include the growth hormone Somatropin, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMS), the anabolic agent Clenbuterol and the testosterone blend Sustanon in 2012 and 2013 during his spell playing for Canberra.

Tim Unsworth told the ABC's 7.30 on Monday that ASADA had placed his client on its register of findings but omitted a previous allegation of trafficking the CJC-1295 peptide in 2011.

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But following Doyle's declarations on Tuesday, Unsworth said it was the first time any mention had been made of the tribunal sitting to hear the winger's case since he was issued with an infraction notice 10 months ago.

"The NRL have compounded their error by a logarithmic scale. There's some talk about trying to organise something for Sandor but they haven't contacted me," he told AAP.

"I last spoke to them on May 9 about trying to do something but it seems they only react to publicity.

"What they have done today is beyond the pale. There is a process for dealing with these allegations that is established by law.

"It seems the NRL is not interesting in not observing the law.

"It's in breach of the national doping scheme and I don't know why they consider themselves not bound by the scheme."

Earl is the only player to be banned under the long-running ASADA drugs in sport investigation that has engulfed both the NRL and AFL following the infamous 'darkest day in sport' press conference 15 months ago..

Despite Unsworth's claims, Doyle said he's satisfied the NRL had followed all the right protocols.

"The allegation is multiple trafficking charges, we're very comfortable with the process," he said.

"We have an individual who admits to using performance-enhancing drugs and we'd no alternative but to stand him down.

"ASADA said there was no evidence of trafficking of a certain substance ... but there is other substances involved here.

"We're working to get this to a conclusion as soon as possible and we're contacting the appropriate parties to make sure we get the anti-doping tribunal set up as soon as we can."

Doyle admits to being surprised by the length of time it's taken for anything to happen but reiterated the code has done everything in the correct fashion.

"If you go back to the 'darkest day in Australian sport,' none of us anticipated it would take as long as it's taken," he said.

"From the outset we'd said we'd work with ASADA on this and for us we said when we had facts, we'd act.